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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: rock · branch · tear · bark · court · clip · pitcher · pound

  1. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  4. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. He is an ace ________________.
  9. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  10. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  14. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  20. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  23. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. tear — from crying
  3. branch — a division
  4. pound — a weight
  5. tear — to rip
  6. rock — a stone
  7. court — for sport
  8. pitcher — in baseball
  9. bark — of a tree
  10. branch — of a bank
  11. bark — to shout
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. branch — of a tree
  14. pound — for dogs
  15. clip — a video
  16. clip — for paper
  17. court — of a king
  18. court — of law
  19. pound — to hit hard
  20. rock — music
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. rock — to move gently
  24. clip — to cut

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com